It seems Straightshooters recently posted velocity stats for a 460 .177. Well it turns out this .177 version is either a lemon, or their Chronies are way off because it tuned out to be a Medium-Powered Springer!
It could be they got a weak one like Tom Gaylord had when he tested a 460 .177. All the pellet velocities are 100-200fps less than a 350 .177! They list the Superdomes at 859fps at the muzzle. That's almost what my 350 got on the Chrony with the .22 Superdomes!
This is scary. Is Diana using 2 sets of springs in their 460's? Are they maybe installing 34 mainsprings by accident or when they run out of 460 springs, just to keep up with production? This is very weird. I think SS needs to contact Umarex to see why there is such a HUGE discrepancy of 100-200fps or 6+FPE. Anyone deal with SS regularly that can e-mail them? I have not purchased anything from them but I I 'll send them an e-mail anyway.
Most seem to go by SS "Our Take" as close to end user reality . There are gun to gun variations (probably a fairly small deviation only though) and there is the possibility the 460 they tested was a tightly fitted model . Email them as they seem to be really helpful answering Q's .
I don't think they shoot each rifle they test through a full break in period but they do shoot many many pellets to give people good velocity info on each model. Since break-in periods vary and you generally use one brand of pellet through the majority of the break-in period, those velocities in our personal rifles are going to level off differently than the specific one they used in their tests.
Then too, the varieties of pellet weights fied through one rifle may affect springs too, its hard to know.
Velocities matter much less than consistant accuracy. Although fluctuating velocities might indicate a reason for inconsistant accuracy.
These are not the #'s a normal 460 would produce. These are pathetic #'s and not indicative of a 21+FPE Magnum .177 springer. The discrepancies are just too vast.
Harry, It probably is just a misprint or typo. A 8 for a 9? You can go to their blog if you like and ask them. Kevin, with SS always responds promptly. I know a lot of guys use them for numbers. But I take it all with a grain of salt. That is why I have my own Chrony.
we (our)?
It's interesting how the Diana site still shows the 460 @860fps in .22 and the 350 more powerful at 900fps. Dave said his 460 gets like 950fps with 12.Xgr pellets and 900fps with 14.3gr Crossman Premiers if I remember correctly.
I wish Diana and all the other airgun companies would tell us which pellet(s) they got the advertised velocity with.
shooting RWS Hobbies (listed 11.9 gr) at 940ish fps MV, JSB Exact
Express (listed 14.35 gr) at 860ish fps MV and JSB Straton
(listed 15.9 gr) at 805ish fps MV.
Same model/caliber springers vary for various reasons - specs,
tolerances, tight or loose barrel, damaged piston seal, damaged
or leaking breech seal, weak spring or broken, etc.
A good example or healthy 460 .177 should be in the 350 .177
territory power/velocitywise so to speak.
Gotta get past break-in or at least harsh dieselling before
attempting to find out what a gun will do consistantly powerwise.
That's after inspection, cleaning, lubing. Also not shooting any
loose or super light ammo. Some heavier stuff from the get-go can
be useful if the gun is doing the "smoke and boom".
A few Kodiaks quickly tamed, settled down my 460. IIRC the second
shot over the chrony with a Kodiak was 1,050! First shot into the
trap and I knew it was tame the beast time. Most new springers have
went like this more or less for me from the get-go. I recall the
AA TX200 didn't - didn't mind that!
your 460 .22 gets identical velocities as my 350. CP 14.3 and FTS 14.5gr are 860ish like you said and the JSB Exact Jumbos (15.9gr same as Straton) are mostly above 800fps in the 801-806.x range (see my post with chrony pics from yesterday).
Now I 'm a little confused about the Kodiaks and your 460. Did you get some dieseling with a Kodiak to achieve over 1,000fps or was that a typo? What is the norm for Kodiaks in your gun? Have you done regular 10/20 shot groups? How is it possible to get get such a high #? I agree, I think heavy pellets like the Kodiak & Crow Magnum tame a springer faster. I shot several hundred Kodiaks & about 100+ Crow Magnums before I shot med-weight pellets and the 350 smoothed out quicker I think. BTW, Tom Gaylord's test 460 .22 was in the mid 500's with Kodiaks and he did not recommend them. Dave here says his 460 .22 doesn't sound good at all with Kodiaks, but of course we know the sound changes with different pellets. But others at different forums said their 460 "does not like Kodiaks". Just curious what your Chrony results are when shooting 21gr Kodiaks through your 460.
Kodiaks to aid in eliminating the excessive and potentially
damaging detonation/dieselling or burning off of excess lube
in compression tube/cylinder. This often works if the gun
isn't way over lubed, damaged and/or undersized piston seal
and so on.
IIRC the few Kodiaks I shot over the chrony once the gun
settled down were in the lower 600s. There a very tight
fit. That and the weight of them combined made me decide
not to use them.
In the 12" barrelled Paul Watts tuned 350 .22 I once owned
Kodiaks shot in the high 600s - I think 680s or so and quite
consistant and accurate too. Fit was snug but not near as
tight as my 460.
Yeah low 600's is not that good.. I wouldn't use them either. I guess the 460 definitely does not like Kodiaks, probably because of the too snug a fit. It looks like it all depends how a pellet fits in the breech.
Kodiaks fit very tight on my 350 .22 as well. I can't imagine a tighter fit - like on the 460! That stinks you can't use them. I know Dave is stuck with a new tin of Kodiaks too. Mine shoots them in the 660's with some mid-high 650's. Shot half a dozen yesterday through the chrony and got like a 5-6fps spread only! Average was about 660fps. 662.3 was the highest. It's ok, but I 'd love to get 680's. That's what I think my 350 should be getting, around 680-690 like you said. Even Gaylord's test 350 got high 680's with Kodiaks when he reviewed in '06. Oh well, maybe that's why we have "tuning"
